Monthly Archives: January 2015

I don’t even want to talk about a person calling himself a “Christian” wanting a cake with the words “God hates gays” on it; and what the cake was for. I’m angry at the fact that such a person exists and the damage to the Gospel said person is doing. The fact, however, that the cake shop refused to print the message is another story entirely. That is something we need to talk about.

Azucar Bakery in Denver, CO. was asked to print the cake for a man named Bill Jack. Jack also requested the cake to be in the shape of a Bible with an image of two men holding hands with a big X through them. The bakery refused to comply with the request saying the message was “discriminatory, and hateful.”

Who! Wait a minute. I thought business owners had no rights to refuse such requests based on their personal views. I thought “discriminating” against customers because of a business owners core convictions and beliefs was no frowned upon and illegal. Isn’t the idea that business owners are not allowed to refuse such requests at the heart of the Masterpiece Cake Shop story and Jack Phillips, the owner?

I don’t even feel like saying “I told you so.” Back when same-sex “marriage” was gaining steam and people were lining up to support it so they wouldn’t be called names, many refused to compromise and withstood the onslaught of attacks. One of our main concerns was that if marriage was redefined to include homosexuals, what legal or moral ground would there be to refuse redefining marriage for polygamists, pedophiles, and anyone else that wanted to get married?

One of our greatest concerns has been realized.

This case, this 18-year old girl, will be the catalyst for the movement to normalize and then legalize incestuous relationships. The slippery slope is getting slipperier. In the exact same way that homosexuals first normalized and then legalized same-sex “marriage,” this girl and her father are taking pages right out of the LGBT playbook.

The girl, unnamed at this point, was interviewed by New York Magazine, a rather lengthy interview that details how the relationship began. While most would assume some abuse must be present, the reality is that this girl was estranged from her father for 12 years before being reunited. The girl, at age 16, spent a week with her father and his live-in girlfriend, during which the two went from getting reacquainted to kissing, making out, and eventually having sex; which was the girls first time.

Like this:

The video below is a candid interview with Al and Lisa Robertson of the Duck Dynasty Robertson’s. In the video Al and Lisa discuss their views on abortion and, to the surprise of many I’m sure, Lisa shares that she considers herself pro-choice.

After revealing that she had an abortion when she was younger in discussing their new book “A New Season: A Robertson Family Love Story of Brokenness and Redemption,” Lisa says that while she opposes abortion based on her religious convictions, she does not want to force her beliefs on anyone else. Lisa says:

In this short video, Pastor Matt Chandler discusses the issue of abortion around the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision. (The video is about a year old.)

Chandler starts out by reminding us all that when this landmark decision was handed down in 1973 that the science of pregnancy and the unborn was far different than it is today. Back then we didn’t know just how fully developed unborn children were at 8 weeks, 12 weeks, and 20 weeks. One of the most regrettable decision in American history was made not knowing that the unborn can feel pain as early as 20 weeks (for certain) but perhaps even earlier; making abortion nothing less than the legal torture and murder of innocent unborn children.

One of the aspects of this video that makes it important is the fact that Chandler is the pastor of a Southern Baptist Church. Up until roughly 1979 the Southern Baptist Convention endorsed and support abortion. Thankfully, realizing their mistake, the convention renounced this position and has been a tireless defender of life ever since.

I particularly enjoyed Chandler’s treatment of the pro-abortion rhetoric that a “woman gets to choose what she does with her body.” He frankly calls that lack of logic “bull” and suggests a woman “go prostitute” herself to see if she is truly free to do what she wants with her body.

The largest picture ever taken has been released. It is an astounding 1.5 billion pixel image (69,536 x 22,230) requiring 4.3 GB of disk space. The picture just happens to be the Andromeda Galaxy!

The image was released on January 5 by NASA of our closest neighboring galaxy: Andromeda. The image was comprised of 411 Hubble Space Telescope images spanning an incredible 100 million stars and covering more than 40,000 light years. And that is just one section of the image!

Like this:

Far too few people are concerned about the saturation of graphic sex and violence that has become common in our culture. Images that were once considered pornography are now teased by middle school kids. Technology has made almost certain that by the time a child leaves elementary school he or she will have seen many sexually and violently explicit images.

Take for example a video aired in Sweden aimed at kids between the ages of 3 and 6. The video shows a dancing penis (named Willie) and vagina (named Snippan) in a light-hearted cartoon. Some of the lyrics of the song that accompany the video include:

The idea that people are treated differently because of the color of their skin is patently wrong; it’s unbiblical in every way. Any church claiming to be led by Jesus but refusing to accept people because of their skin is a fraud. There is nothing biblical or Christ-like about such a place.

I was impressed by an article I read recently in which former NFL player Derwin Gray – now a pastor – made a statement that every person of every skin tone claiming the name of Jesus needs to memorize. Gray was being interviewed by The Blaze about current race relations in light of the Michael Brown and Eric Garner events when he shared some much needed thoughts. Gray emphasized the fact that for Christians there is no such thing as “Jew” or “Gentile” because in Christ such barriers have been destroyed. He said:

Anyone that knows me knows I love music. I don’t discriminate either so my ipod has everything from country, bluegrass and folk to opera, rap, and classic rock. At times the lyrics of certain songs strike me and I’m captured by them and love the song for the message. Other times the music (often it’s the music) and especially the melody blows me away and I may not even listen to the words all that closely.

But I have to admit a new song by Kelly Clarkson has me hooked for a completely different reason.

I don’t mind admitting I’ve been a fan of Clarkson since she won the first season of American Idol. Her music career has been a glowing entry on the American Idol resume. But her new song, release last Monday, offers a strong pro-life message in a way I’ve not seen before.

I like top 10 lists. I don’t know if late-night television popularized making “top” lists or not. But I would rather scan a “top” list than look through a long list any day. So when Peter Sprigg of the Family Research Council compiled a list of the top 10 articles worth reading from 2014, I was interested.

As I scanned his list I recognized most of the articles and their authors immediately. They were articles I had read throughout the year. And I can say that they are indeed worth reading. In fact, what I would suggest is that if you are wanting a strong education defending traditional marriage and the family, these articles will serve you very well.

As you peruse the following list of some of the best articles relating to marriage and family from 2014 I hope you will learn from the wisdom and knowledge of some of our culture’s most notable voices. There is more than just a philosophy being advanced here, there is a fundamental idea of what marriage is (and is not) and what the family is supposed to be. It this idea that is under attack and in need of those adhering to traditional values to arm themselves with facts – not rhetoric – and stand in defense.

Many thanks to Mr. Sprigg for compiling such a worthwhile list. Happy reading!

I can’t speak for all NFL fans, but I am still eagerly watching the post-season unfold. I thought for sure I would be less interested after last week’s round of games just because I was certain my New England Patriots would lose to the Baltimore Ravens. But the Pats are still in and I’m still interested.

I can’t help but wonder who Michael Sam is rooting for at this point. Both St. Louis and Dallas are out of the playoffs and both share the distinction of having Sam on their practice squad. Both teams cut Sam from their practice squad, presumably because Sam did not meet their expectations as a player.

Then again, if you ask Michael Sam why he was cut he will give a different answer.

TMZ recently caught up with Sam in the airport and asked him “Do you think that you coming out had anything to do with it, or do you think it was just the level of talent you went up against after college?” To which Sam replied: